Demo The Life Ruby (metroidvania platformer) -------- Still lives!

RangerX

Member
Wow - awesome demo.
I would suggest acquiring an editor for what you write.
Plenty of dialogue needed to be touched up.
Overall it was so well done though.
Thank you! It makes my day everytime someone likes it, seriously.
It really is a work in progress. It really is not up to my quality standard I impose myself you know. It will get there at some point -- or so I hope. Its alot of work though.
 
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DyingSilence

Guest
Here you go, my system details:

Processor:
Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-3120M CPU @ 2.50GHz
Manufacturer:
Intel
Speed:
2.5 GHz
Number of Cores:
2
CPU ID:
BFEBFBFF000306A9
Family:
06
Model:
3A
Stepping:
9

RAM:
4.0 GB

Video Card:
Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000
Chipset:
Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000
Dedicated Memory:
32 MB
Total Memory:
2.0 GB
Pixel Shader Version:
5.0
Vertex Shader Version:
5.0
Hardware T & L:
Yes
Vendor ID:
8086
Device:
0166
Driver Version:
10.18.10.3368

Operating System:
Microsoft Windows 8.1 (build 9600), 64-bit
Service Pack:
0
Size:
64-bit
Edition:
Intel
Version:
6.3.9600
Locale:
0415

This was caused just by running the game.
 
Thank you! It makes my day everytime someone likes it, seriously.
It really is a work in progress. It really is not up to my quality standard I impose myself you know. It will get there at some point -- or so I hope. Its alot of work though.
I understand completely. I hope it didn't sound like I was putting your work down in anyway.
What you have put together is absolutely incredible, keep it up.
 
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flaame1979

Guest
Actually its an exe. It doesn't even install...
Did you take that one? http://www.mediafire.com/file/1wwcq9gvi8hir06/TLR501.exe
Ok, so what happened is in avoiding trying to sign up for different websites, the link I was clicking wasn't actually downloading the exe for the game, for some reason I had to open the link in a new window and then it downloaded the correct file...
No idea why, but it's working now.
 

RangerX

Member
One of my friend who is gladly testing this game like a pro is having one unusual problem I must admit. He is on Win7 with an old Ndivia card. When he passes from sacling ON to scaling OFF, the screen is flashing for a while like the clearing of the screen is messed up. Its really wierd and I don't feel I can do much anything about it. However I'd like to know, did that happen to any of you?



 
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Just ran TLR501 on a Win7 machine with an elderly GTX 660TI and had no technical problem switching the scale.

One thing was confusing though:
  • When in window mode I cant disable scaling. The option is greyed out.
  • When in full screen I can disable scaling.
  • When switching back to windowed mode scaling stays disabled.
Why won't the game allow to disable scaling in windowed mode then? (Not that I want to disable scaling which is probably why I didn't notice before testing that flickering bug you mentioned)
 

RangerX

Member
Just ran TLR501 on a Win7 machine with an elderly GTX 660TI and had no technical problem switching the scale.

One thing was confusing though:
  • When in window mode I cant disable scaling. The option is greyed out.
  • When in full screen I can disable scaling.
  • When switching back to windowed mode scaling stays disabled.
Why won't the game allow to disable scaling in windowed mode then? (Not that I want to disable scaling which is probably why I didn't notice before testing that flickering bug you mentioned)
Yes I am preventing it so far because I never could code this clean enough. I was always finding situation where the screen wasn't cleared or centered properly and lost alot of time on that.
So since it won't be that much important as an option anyways + the fact that people can still play windowed with scaling or not, I won't fix this for now, maybe never.
 

RangerX

Member
Hey, thanks for poking me Ladi.
Am still working on the next big zone for the game and playing with some designs. I should be making some graphics soon and build it up. Its been slower that I thought it all would be but you know, real life and stuff. :/
Am also waiting for the first and main sound effects pack from my brother (which is apparently as much slow ass as me). Might put Yal's sound effects in place holders though. I should check on that.

When I get the next big zone finished anyways I will publish a new version of the game here with that zone to test :)
 

RangerX

Member
So here's where I am for this month of February. The project has obviously been slowed down by holiday times but also certain other events. The joy of NOT being a full time developer I guess. :confused:
However, I am getting really confident into what I am creating there, the third zone of the game "Ezuma's Temple Main Chambers". I thought I'd share some plans, some drawings I made of what could really be the final plans for that zone. Almost spoilers here!!



So yeah, that's how I do it. A general plan without real metrics and measurements. I like to adjust the distances and metrics has I build the real room, also improving and adding certain details by the moment's inspiration. Right now I am coding a couple of AIs that are going to be in there as well as new level ingredients. This take a tad more time than I thought so I am creating the new tilesets while taking a break from coding. I think its getting along pretty well and would have decent screenshots or maybe even a playable version my March of April (finger crossed!)

Oh and I am also playing around with the thought of having an achievement system even if that is just a windows PC version of the game. Do you guys think its worth it if this that version isn't going on Steam anytime soon?
Tks for keeping up with me and/or lurking around. You guys are fantastic.

:)
 
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I am also playing around with the thought of having an achievement system
Although I don't care about achievements at all, I think several players do and I think an achievement system is worth the time. But that's only my feeling without knowing any statistic on the topic.
 

WarpDogsVG

Member
It's so cool you mock up maps on graph paper still. Neat to see your process.

I definitely think achievements are worth it. Have fun with them - give them out for secrets, weird situations that are achievable in your engine, and so on. Don't go out of your way to find "achievable" situations and it'll be low effort, high reward
 

onjai_x3

Member
I have to ask, was there a reason why you need to acquire boots on the 1st stage in order to perform an adequate jump? I don't think it really adds anything to the gameplay unless it's for demonstration purposes.

Also, When I landed on top of a crate in stage 2 I got stuck. Not sure what that was about.
 
I really like the level design and the characters!
I just took a really quick look inside, but I am actually really satisfied with what I saw.
What I like is that you can set up the controls right the way you want to! that's one pretty cool function that makes playing this game even more comfortable!
good job so far, i'm impressed! :)
 
M

Mr Nazarick

Guest


I do not know if this has been corrected since then but a small translation error.
In French it is written "Redimension" (Of the verb to "redimensionner")

I discover GameMaker so I look a little what it is and I must say that I love your project. I will follow its evolution.

Sorry I can not put it in small size image. If this is annoying I will only show the link if you prefer.
 
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APigeon

Guest
I do not know if this has been corrected since then but a small translation error.
In French it is written "Redimension" (Of the verb to "redimensionner")
I saw a few more as well, but I think Ranger is currently more focusing on level design.
It should be corrected at a later time though.
 

RangerX

Member
Its always good to point them out.
I obviously didn't fix any text in the game yet. I really feel like its something am gonna do later but there's always stuff you miss anyways.
When you done Nazarick, I'd love to hear some more feedback from you. :)
 
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Mr Nazarick

Guest
I saw a few more as well, but I think Ranger is currently more focusing on level design.
It should be corrected at a later time though.
Of course, and it makes sense that this is not the priority ^ ^ I just wanted to note it to him since I had noticed it on the spot.


Its always good to point them out.
I obviously didn't fix any text in the game yet. I really feel like its something am gonna do later but there's always stuff you miss anyways.
When you done Nazarick, I'd love to hear some more feedback from you. :)
Yes that is not the most important and as you say, there are always many things that have been forgotten or overlooked.

For the moment I could not try your demo a lot, the time is a little limited at the moment (a lot on the road), but as soon as I have some free time I'll give you a little feedback on my impressions with pleasure. ;)
 
D

DirectShift

Guest
Heey, how are you? Just played the game.
Some observations:

+ Art is very nice, I like it.
+ If I press both left and right keys, I can do a moonwalk with the player, haha (that's a bug)
+ Is it possible to set the controls? It's unconfortable to jump with spacebar
+ Woooh, when I'm on water the air goes down VERY quickly
+ I like the splash when entering the water
+ The controls and gameplay (mostly the movement) feel strange to me, like blocky, like not smooth enough. It's like unresponsive or laggish sometimes. I tell you this because Donkey Kong Country 2 comes to my mind as a good example of smooth movement controls. Maybe your game works as intended, I have no idea! You tell me.
+ I managed to get to the first boss, I have no idea how to kill him.

Keep at it!!
 
T

Tonydaderp

Guest
Heey, how are you? Just played the game.
Some observations:

+ Art is very nice, I like it.
+ If I press both left and right keys, I can do a moonwalk with the player, haha (that's a bug)
+ Is it possible to set the controls? It's unconfortable to jump with spacebar
+ Woooh, when I'm on water the air goes down VERY quickly
+ I like the splash when entering the water
+ The controls and gameplay (mostly the movement) feel strange to me, like blocky, like not smooth enough. It's like unresponsive or laggish sometimes. I tell you this because Donkey Kong Country 2 comes to my mind as a good example of smooth movement controls. Maybe your game works as intended, I have no idea! You tell me.
+ I managed to get to the first boss, I have no idea how to kill him.

Keep at it!!
Yea. I was a little confused when i got the boss the first time. Maybe make it slightly more obvious? Like, I know its fun to figure it out on your own, but sometimes stuff like that turns away players. I think putting a "Help" option in the game is a good idea. LIke, if you enable it, you get clues, but if you dont, you figure it out yourself.
 

RangerX

Member
There's a limit to what you can control though.
I changed alot of things to make the deflect more obvious. In all the texts its always written "deflect" beside the attack button (this means in the config, help screen and tutorial).
In the game there are magicians that talk about deflecting with one you're likely talk too for like 90% chance and it tells you to do it on the boss.
You can also deflect the bees' darts.
You can deflect the fire from the fire statues.

At this point I would need a cut scene with huge 3D text like "YO, you can deflect dude. Don't you get it" ?

:rolleyes:
ok ok, am making fun of this but there's something more I will do.
I will make it more obvious in the tutorial and will add some mob that shoots projectiles in Ezuma's Grounds maybe. I shall also make the boss more complex and make so it can be hit with normal knife.
The day I'll be selling the game I always will include an option to get a guide.
 
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CMAllen

Member
There's a limit to what you can control though.
I changed alot of things to make the deflect more obvious. In all the texts its always written "deflect" beside the attack button (this means in the config, help screen and tutorial).
In the game there are magicians that talk about deflecting with one you're likely talk too for like 90% chance and it tells you to do it on the boss.
You can also deflect the bees' darts.
You can deflect the fire from the fire statues.

At this point I would need a cut scene with huge 3D text like "YO, you can deflect dude. Don't you get it" ?

:rolleyes:
ok ok, am making fun of this but there's something more I will do.
I will make it more obvious in the tutorial and will add some mob that shoots projectiles in Ezuma's Grounds maybe. I shall also make the boss more complex and make so it can be hit with normal knife.
The day I'll be selling the game I always will include an option to get a guide.
Take the Valve approach to game mechanics. Introduce the mechanic directly and overtly, but make its usage simple and in a way that's non-threatening, but one that cannot be bypassed until the player grasps the basics. THEN start ramping up how demanding the game gets about using that knowledge. If you play through all of Valve's games, you'll notice that pattern repeating. They introduce something in a safe, simple manner. The player has to mess around with it to get the general idea. Then, as the game progresses, that mechanic becomes a core backbone of more and more complex gameplay.
 

RangerX

Member
Actually I think I made a new design decision regarding this.
Deflecting stuff will not be mandatory for the whole game or for a very long time during the game. Its going to be this kind of ability that isn't hidden but not necessarily obvious either, rewarding the pro players and those who discover stuff.
Basically, pro players will have all the incentives and the necessary clues to discover they can deflect stuff and they might use that style of play. Then the beginner or player that just wades through the game and doesn't take time to discover much stuff will be able to complete the game no problems.

I think this will be a good decision because while I want a deflect ability in the game, I don't want it a focus. I don't want to develop it much or market the game around it. So its gonna be a pro technique for experimented players.
 
R

Rizlad

Guest
I am loving this game so far, it has all those right classic game vibes and an actually immersive story/world.
It seems Metroidvania and Zelda had a baby while F.F. watched :)

Controls are nice and tight, i'll admit I did die like 5 times in the first five minutes learning the reach of my jump and that I indeed cannot swim ^.-
However once got a feel for it the controls felt fair.
Additionally I felt the UI and menus had a nice feel/look.
Overall an inspiring game knowing it was created using Gamemaker!
 
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Carloskhard

Member
So, I tested the game and this are my points:
-Would be nice to see the character adapt to terrain if it is walking on ramps instead of float over them.
-Why not using mouse controls? Keyboard only control are a little strange, maybe use AWSD for movement but also arrows for attack and others, as they're more defined keys meanwhile you can hit the wrong key if using KJHGMPL (too many keys). Also maybe add controls and statistics as a submenu inside the menu. (Maybe the controls could be in the key "ªº" (the one below the ESC key). That way you'll have a much cleaner controls. Also it is annoying that hitting "M" opens the map but hitting "M" again doesn't close it.
-At the beggining there is a lot of things you can't reach, which feels weird to me.Maybe do them less obvious, for example letting see that you can go to X place but not for now and don't see what is at the other side, but I don't think putting a lot of collectables all over the map where you can see them but not take them is very nice for a start point (I can't remember any game doing this).I died a few times trying to swim underwater and seems like other people also suffered from this.
-animations for the spring are too slow (whatch mario games reference and how they're more instant).Also it would be cool and make more sense if they would push you farther if you jump from higher.
-At the beginning I dont get what are those platforms that slow me down,light and show up the GUI. I guessed afterwards they were checkpoints.
-I can't hit upwards easily.
-The game crash if I take this map:
Captura de pantalla (384).png
and the error is the following:
Captura de pantalla (383).png
-Maybe add an interroigation each time you can interact with something or any other thing that let you know that that thing can be interacted with (More than that little flash that there is)
-Being able to go trough elevators from below to above would be useful (but that is a personal taste I guess)
-Would be super cool if you could break the Yuree's flowers and then if you talk to them they were mad at you!
-Having to wait after hitting an enemy for a few seconds before being able to hit them again makes going fast killing everyone imposible, which is frustrating.
-Parkour feels too rigid: Jump at the edge of ledges and that's it. Maybe use gravity changes depending on how much time you maintain the jump buttom (like in Mario games), makes jumps a bit easier, add ledgee grabs or just faster movement and making the parkour more about precision. Sometimes I found myself wondering if a jump is posible but super dificult because I would need to jump at the last pixel or if it isn't posible...you know that minecraft parkour where every jump is 5 blocks away which is the maximum that you can jump and you get frustrated because it isn't funny to do? well..i feel like that with the parkour in this game.
-I stopeed playing once I got to the place where you take the boots, but then the game crashed again when taking the boots.I think the error has to do with the game thinking I'm using a controller when I'm not.Ther error was the following:
Captura de pantalla (386).png

-I couln't find the option for music control at the in-game menu.

So..that's all. The game looks nice but there are stuff to fix as I saw. Keep working hard and I hope to see the game growing fast :)
*(If you can't see the photos let me know)
 

RangerX

Member
Thanks for the detailed feedback Carlos,
Alot changed since that build that is available here though. I just wasn't updating the thread as much as I once was. Some problems you mentioned and either fixed or changed (menus, options) and some are inherent to the metroidvania genre (seeing things you can't reach yet). As a one man army there are also details I have to skip or finish the game first, like getting the Yurees and NPCs more dynamic. Actually if I have extra time and will, its probably graphical effects am gonna add at the end of the project though. Am gonna look into the crashes you're getting though. Its not supposed to happen so thanks alot for the screens! :)

EDIT: That crash had been fixed in the meantime. But thanks for reporting.
 
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